Marcus Allen inspires students to dream big

Marcus Allen was honored at his alma mater, Lincoln High School, as part of a Hometown Hall of Famers program presented by the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Allstate on Tuesday, March 6, 2012. This plaque will now hang at the school.
— K.C. Alfred

Marcus Allen was honored at his alma mater, Lincoln High School, as part of a Hometown Hall of Famers program presented by the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Allstate on Tuesday, March 6, 2012. This plaque will now hang at the school.
— K.C. Alfred

“In practice, I fumbled the ball eight times in a row, on purpose; I was thrown off the team,” said Allen, who gave a brilliant, unscripted speech to the Lincoln student body, one of the most inspirational talks I’ve heard. Honestly. Sensational.

Then came humble pie. “I thought I was the best player in the county,” Allen said.

Well, he was, but he had defied Player, not a good idea, and thought father Red would be an ally. But dad told him to man-up, that the matter was between athlete and coach.

“He rescued me,” Allen said of Red, who was in attendance with Marcus’ mom, Gwen (who is one of the most wonderful women I’ve met in my life), sister Michelle (her national anthem rendition was Super Bowl worthy), and brother Michael (brother Damon, the famed CFL quarterback, couldn’t attend). “We all have blind spots in life.”

Allen went on to say many important things. I mean, he was really good. His focus to the students was to dream big, as he did, that there’s nothing they can’t accomplish, that it takes work, that people never saw the extra time he put in, running the hills in Southeast, pushing himself to become what he became — a Hall of Fame back scouts said was too slow to be great.

Look, I’ve known Marcus since he was a pup, when he was aw-shucks, never brash, loyal, raised right. But this is Marcus, 51, all grown up, an entrepreneur, a successful businessman, who, while still doing college football analysis on Fox, owns several Burger Kings and part of the hot Tao nightclub at the Venetian in Las Vegas.

This is the new Marcus. Any regrets?

He laments he didn’t get a degree from USC. And …

“I should have been MVP of the Pro Bowl,” he said. “It still bothers me.”